Where Words Are Scarce
by Aerial312
Summary: Blood typing makes for a stressful day for everyone.


I bounced impatiently on my feet outside Mr. Elliot's physics classroom. The teacher stood just inside the door, reading the note that I had forged to excuse Jasper from class. In all my worry about how Edward was doing with Bella this morning, I had failed to see that there was going to be blood typing in all of Mr. Banner's biology classes today. The moment I'd seen the little white strips and the lancets, I'd faked a headache and gotten myself excused, quickly writing up a fake family emergency to get Jasper out of physics. Anywhere in the science building was a very risky place for him to be while thirty teenagers were squeezing drops of blood onto little test strips down the hall.

_"Hale!" Mr. Elliot called._

_Jasper looked up._

_"Here," the teacher told him, holding out the note, "You have to go to the office."_

_Jasper nodded, and stood, tensing slightly as he tossed his backpack over his shoulder and left the room._

Mr. Elliot was going to let him go, that was good, but he was making them finish the pop quiz he'd started class with first. Asshole. I sighed in frustration. If I had realized before arriving in class what the lab was going to be, I would have had Emmett deliver the note, like I usually did, to avoid this scrutiny. We were always discreet, but still people talked, so of course Mr. Elliot suspected something was up when I was the one to give him a note from the office asking him to dismiss Jasper.

_Jasper closed the door behind him, his eyes meeting mine in a silent thank you. He held his arms rigidly at the side of his unmoving chest, as we walked quickly out of the building._

I leaned back against the peeling, red lockers. The back of my throat was beginning to burn, as the sweet smell of human blood wafted down the hallway from Mr. Banner's classroom. The lab had begun. I swallowed hard to clear my mouth of the venom pooling there, and held my breath. I had to be in complete control of myself, so that I could be Jasper's rock.

Not even a minute had passed since I'd handed Mr. Elliot the note, but it seemed like an eternity. I pulled my phone from the back pocket of my jeans and quickly sent a text to the rest of the family.

**skip science. blood typing in bio.**

_Jasper sat stiffly on a large rock. He was still as a statue, eyes closed, head resting on his hands. I knelt behind him, on the moss covered rock, and squeezed his shoulders, trying to work away some of the tension._

I looked up as the classroom door creaked open. Jasper closed the door behind him, his eyes meeting mine in a silent thank you. He held his arms rigidly at the side of his unmoving chest, as we walked quickly out of the building. As we walked through the drizzle, I glanced around us. The only other people outside were some freshmen boys smoking by a car on the other side of the parking lot. Sliding my hand onto his lower back, I led Jasper toward the woods.

A couple hundred feet into the trees, I stopped, taking a deep breath. It felt good after holding my breath for so long. The air was cool, and wet, and most importantly, free of the scent of humans. After a few breaths, my throat no longer felt like sandpaper.

Jasper sat stiffly on a large rock. He was still as a statue, eyes closed, head resting on his hands. I knelt behind him, on the moss covered rock, and squeezed his shoulders, trying to work away some of the tension.

He wasn't ready to relax yet, and I wasn't going to push him. Tenderly, I pushed aside the golden curls at the nape of his neck, and kissed the scars that hid beneath. I slid my head to rest on his shoulder, and wrapped my arms around his waist, content to just hold him until he was ready to talk.

We sat like this for quite some time, the only movement was when I occasionally took a breath of the cool spring air. The knees of my jeans were soaking wet and dirty from the wet moss on the rock, but that didn't matter. I held him tightly, silently pouring out my love for him, as he did battle with the demons inside that wanted to go back and ravage the science wing.

_He pulled me onto his lap, and I settled my head against his chest, as he held tightly onto my hand._

_"You don't have to go back today," I offered, running the fingers of my free hand up and down his side._

_"Are you going back?" he asked. _

_I looked into his dark eyes. More than anything I wanted to be able to tell him that I could ditch for the rest of the day with him, and go hunting, which he clearly needed. He simply nodded in understanding._

_"I should stay," I explained._

_"Keeping an eye on Edward?"_

_I nodded into his chest. _

Edward. In my haste to get Jasper out of the building, and help him calm down, I had forgotten to check in on how Edward was doing with Bella as the day wore on.

iEdward walked from American History to English, laughing out loud at nothing in particular./i

So far so good, but it was lunch and biology that posed the biggest risk. I could not let him go to biology today.

_Edward sat alone with Bella at a table in the cafeteria. She fiddled with the drink in front of her as they talked._

I snapped out of my vision as Jasper finally moved beneath me, sitting up to lean back into my embrace. I kissed the side of his neck, hugging him tighter. He let his head tip against mine, finally breathing deeply into my spiky hair several times. As he did so, his body relaxed against mine. I turned my head up, brushing my lips against his forehead, his nose, his lips. It was a tender kiss, soft and passionate at the same time. We broke apart, our foreheads touching..

"I'm sorry," I murmured.

"What for?" his deep voice was gravelly from having gone so long without breath.

"If I'd been paying attention, we never would have even gone up to the science wing this morning."

"You can't catch everything."

I scowled, pulling my head away. He was right, but I still felt like I had messed up.

"Alice," he whispered, wrapping his arm around my waist, "You got us out."

"It was close. Closer than it should have been," I grumbled.

"I got to spend a class period—" he looked at his watch, "Two class periods sitting alone in the woods with my wife." He forced a half smile. He was trying to make me feel better now.

I sighed. "How are you doing?"

He shrugged, the half smile leaving his face. "I'm okay."

"Are you, really?" I squeezed his hand.

He pulled me onto his lap, and I settled my head against his chest, as he held tightly onto my hand.

"You don't have to go back today," I offered, running the fingers of my free hand up and down his side.

"Are you going back?" he asked.

I looked into his dark eyes. More than anything I wanted to be able to tell him that I could ditch for the rest of the day with him, and go hunting, which he clearly needed. He simply nodded in understanding.

"I should stay," I explained.

"Keeping an eye on Edward?"

I nodded into his chest.

"Don't feel guilty about it," he told me, running his fingers through my hair.

I sighed, pushing myself up to settle one knee on either side of his lap, and clinging tightly. It was no use pretending to feel better about it, he'd know I was faking. He rubbed a circle over and over on my back with the heel of his hand, his lips resting on the top of my head.

"Do you see any trouble for him?"

"He's going to sit with Bella at lunch, but I think that will be okay. I have to remind him not to go to biology, though," I answered, pulling my head away to look up at him. I traced the dusky circles under his eyes with my thumb. "I'm sorry."

Jasper kissed my hand. "Don't be."

"You need to hunt."

He shrugged. "I'll be okay."

"You're going to come back?" I asked, surprised. Usually, if given the option, Jasper would gladly skip the rest of the school day. I quickly scanned the future for any signs that this was a bad idea. I found none.

"He's not going to see her till lunch, right?" he asked, when my eyes refocused.

"Right."

"Can we stay out here until lunch? It's almost third period," he noted. "If I take in a little more of you, and this fresh air, I can do it."

I tried to smile at this, even though I could hear him persuading himself that this was true. "You're sure? I don't mind if you go home."

"A little more fresh air, and then I hold my breath for the rest of the day…"

Somehow he knew that there was a selfish little part of me that want him to stay, even though I would be fine if he went home. He was doing this for me. I bit my lip. Was it really that important that I stayed to keep an eye on Edward?

"You need to stay. Don't feel guilty about it," he whispered, running his finger along my bottom lip as he freed it from the grip of my front teeth. "I love that you want to make sure I'm okay, but I can do this. Really."

He sounded more sure about it this time, and I nodded. I leaned in, our lips meeting passionately as I pressed my chest to his. His hand circled to my lower back to pull me even closer.

"We've still got one more class period before lunch," he whispered wickedly in my ear.

_"Where words are scarce, they are seldom spent in vain, for they breathe truth that breathe their words in pain"_ Richard II , 2.1


End file.
